


Truth

by Lostkid



Series: Crystal Grumps [1]
Category: Game Grumps, Steven Universe (Cartoon), Video Blogging RPF, crystal grumps - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Crystal Grumps, Gem Cannibalism, Gem Grumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8241487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lostkid/pseuds/Lostkid
Summary: Dan knew that humans thought that aquamarines symbolised hope, peace and happiness. He also knew that humans were rarely correct.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you have no idea what this AU is, please go visit this blog: http://crystal-grumps.tumblr.com (Also it's just a great blog with some cool mods, so, yeah, go check it out).

It was years ago. That's how he justified forgetting what happened. Barry swore that he saw it, but it was a lie, it had to be. 

Back in the kindergarten, he didn't feel nostalgic, he didn't miss it. It felt like he _should_ , but why would anyone miss utter loneliness? As he knelt down to look at his stupid, _defective_ hole in the rock, he noticed it was smaller than he thought.

It....wasn't his. He spotted his a few feet away.

He remembered light blue shards. Littered on the ground, in his hands, in his mo- 

 _No_ , that was wrong. They were a gem...but then... _shards_...on the ground, then...then...

He remembered that they tasted like candy. Cutting at the inside of his mouth and his tongue but he hadn't cared. He'd swallowed the blood too.

 _No_. That wasn't _him_. That was Brian, or Dan, or...or _anyone_ else except him. It _couldn't_ have been him.

\----------------

_"Ninjas are...I mean, we are, I, uh...."_

_"Created to be gem cannibals." Brian had cut across Dan, gazing at Ross with an odd expression that, at the time, he'd interpreted as just bored. "Some of the others know, Dan thought you should know too."_

_"Why me?"_

_"I..."_

_"You were here." Brian shrugged, "It's just convenience, you're not special."_

_Dan nodded awkwardly, and Ross believed Brian's words._

\-----------------

Ross blinked, wincing at the feeling of a shard poking into his tongue. He coughed with teary eyes, face red as he tries to spit them out, but his body wouldn't allow it. He was stuck there, in agony, until he bit down and swallowed.

They tasted like candy.

His body still refused to comply, and he collapsed into his front, choking and sobbing and trying to spit the shards out but to no use.

"No... _no_ , _please_..." He whispered brokenly as his body betrayed him, hands outstretched and grasping at the broken gems littered around him. He listened to them clink together, like Holly's wind-chimes in her garden, and tried to think about her instead of the nightmare he was stuck in.

_"She...she loves b-birds, owls are h-her favourites. Her g-garden is the safest p-place in the universe; we feel s-safe there, I w-wanna be there. I love her, I love her...."_

He repeated this in his head, thinking of her while blood and tiny shards dripped from his mouth. He thought of going home, to his _real_ home. With all the Gems and video games, and food, and....

 _Why_ did he come back? Why did his friends _let_ him go? Why did _Dan_ let him, knowing what he was? 

A _ninja_. The word would feel bitter on his tongue if not for the blood in his mouth that stopped him from making any sound except cries of pain.

A cannibal. A defective, stupid, small, _ninja_ _cannibal_. He could've laughed, almost, from the absurdity of it. Was he wrong in any other ways? Was there a chance the universe could fuck him up even _more_?

He coughed as the world blurred around him, the shards in his throat stabbing into his flesh more.

He couldn't go back. They'd all _hate_ him. Dan and Brian...they were forced, what was he then? No one told him to, only that little voice in the back of his mind pushing him to crack them, to shatter, and rip apart and consume and _kill_ -

\--------------

"We've been around here like three times, Dan."

"We literally just got here."

"Yeah but it feels like _ages_ , I don't-"

"We split up." Brian sounded worried, almost. _Almost_.

Arin sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever. Let's just get Ross and get the hell out of here. I hate this place."

"So does he. That's why we're looking for him." Brian nodded at Dan before heading through a gap in the rocks, hearing Arin still complaining behind him.

He didn't want to admit that, maybe, he was _slightly_ worried. Ninjas were the most dangerous gems on Homeworld, apart from the Diamonds. Letting Ross go the one place where they still hasn't discovered all the shatte- In hindsight, it was an _utterly_ idiotic move on his and Dan's part.

Ninjas could sense shards. They _hungered_ for them, and now was no different. Brian frowned under his mask, ignoring the subconscious screams of the shards.

_"Help me!"_

_"Please, please, I didn't mean to, it's not fair!"_

_"I'll shatter that peridot, I swear..."_

_"Reform...reform!"_

"Shut. _UP_." Brian hissed, rounding the corner. What he saw was exactly what he'd feared.

"...Ross?"

He spoke slowly, discreetly summoning his sword. "Ross can you hear me? Drop the shards, spit them _out_."

Maybe he was being hypocritical, but ignored that fact.

Ross didn't react. He kept slowly, -as if in a trance-, shattering the shards between his sharpening teeth, multicoloured liquid bubbling and dripping down from the corners of his mouth. Brian noticed the still-wet tear tracks running down his cheeks.

"Ross!" Arin screamed, and Brian had to restrain himself from poofing the idiotic topaz on the spot. "Oh my god, Ross what the _fuck_ -"

The aquamarine's head snapped up, eyes almost completely white and glowing. A sign of hunger. _Cannibalistic_ hunger. God _damn_ it, why couldn't Arin's stupid gem placement be on his back or something?

"Arin..." Brian put himself between them both, "Find Dan, _now_."

"But-!"

" _Now_!"

Arin ran off as Ross jumped at Brian, trying to grab his gem and...what? Gouge it from his form? Shatter it immediately? There was no telling what he would do; Brian knew first hand that ninjas would do _anything_ to get their hands on a victim's gem.

Luckily, Ross wasn't trained, and it showed. Brian kicked him away as he reached for the gem, holding his sword to the other's neck. He didn't want to poof him but was prepared to.

" _Give_ me....I... _need_...." Ross muttered, shoving the sword away, seemingly not noticing the metal digging into his hand and drawing blood.

He was pushed down again, that time landing harder on the ground, hitting his head on a nearby rock.

Another attempt- it didn't work. Ross kept getting thrown back, harder and harder, messy hair in his eyes and blood still lazily flowing from his hand. If there's _one_ thing Brian knew about ninjas, it was that their determination was...frightening. They could force themselves not to lose their form, even if grievously injured. Which Ross wasn't, but Brian wondered how long the fight would have to go on before he had to do something drastic.

"You...you hear them.... _don't you_?" Ross asked breathlessly, as if struggling to draw air. "They're calling out...to you...and Dan too. _Why won't you_ -"

"Brian!"

Finally, Dan's voice. Panicked and rushed, but there.

"Ross...okay, okay, drop the shards, spit 'em out..."

Brian scoffed, "You don't think I've tried that? He's not a little kid."

"He's practically brand -ugh- _new_!" Dan countered, gesturing at the surrounding cliffs of the Kindergarden, "A brand new _fucking_ ninja."

A hit from Dan sent Ross tumbling backwards into the clearing near the warp pad, gasping. They saw Arin hiding behind it, staring at them all, scared and confused.

"Why don't you just fucking poof him?!" Arin screamed, ducking down behind the side of the warp pad again as Ross spun to face the noise.

Well they had no choice _now_. If they didn't, the young gem would undoubtedly kill Arin.

"God _damnit_..." Dan muttered, summoning his spears, "Sorry, Ross."

It took three spears. Dan's aim was perfect, of course, but the ninja was tough to poof. The gem landed in the dust silently.

They all stood still, breathing heavily. Looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack, Arin clumsily activated the warp pad and beamed home. Dan was in the same state, but hid it.

"He's cracked, badly..." Brian commented, picking up the smooth stone, "We'll bubble it, keep him in the te-"

"No." Dan snatched the stone away, his grip on it fierce. "We are _not_ locking him away. That's not fair."

"What the _fuck_ do you expect us to do then? Ninjas are _monsters_ , Dan, and you know it!"

Dan turned to glare at Brian, "Ross is _not_ a monster. And neither are we. He's just-"

"Confused. Scared. Strong enough to shatter and _eat_ us, and brainwashed enough not to care."

"Not to-? He was _crying_ , Brian! He didn't mean to do _any_ of this! None of us wanted this! If you lock him away then you lock _me_ away too!"

Dan's breathing was ragged as he tried to calm down, trying not to damage the gem in his grip any further. "I'm taking him to the fountain," he said after a pause.

"Your voice?"

"I don't trust myself. The fountain always works."

Dan stepped up onto the warp pad and was home in two seconds. Luckily, the rest of the Gems were all down at the beach, with only Arin in the kitchen.

"Dan?"

"Hey, just wanted to see if you're-"

"If I'm okay? Does it matter?" Arin ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, "What the fuck happened back there, _that's_ what I'm more worried about."

Dan fidgeted.

"I'll explain...later."

"You fucking better."

He nodded, and as the light beamed him up again, he saw Arin reach for the alcohol cupboard.

The stone in Dan's hands seemed light and heavy at the same time. He felt almost ill every time he glanced at it, and wished, not for the first time, that he'd remembered to reform with pockets after the last battle. He didn't want to hold the gem; he feared he'll damage it further.

"Here we are, I guess."

He didn't visit the fountain much. There really wasn't much need when his voice could heal almost everything. But he regretted it now, as he'd forgotten its beauty. A multicoloured dome of stone, with a stained glass window directly above the water, casting rainbows across the room. A chipped stone statue stood in the centre of the room, its eight arms reaching out and multiple, glazed eyes seemingly following his movements. Dan had no idea who this gem was, but knew they must've been powerful.

"Come on, buddy..." He whispered, placing the stone in the water.

"You're making the wrong decision." Brian voice was calm behind him, "The other gems would agree with me, and you know it."

"You're lying. I'm not gonna _leave_ him in the temple, Brian, not when we can help him!" 

Dan stood up, placing himself between Brian and Ross' gem.

"You saved _me,_ " Dan argued.

"You're my partner."

" _Bullshit_! You would've saved me anyway and you know it! Ross doesn't _have_ a-"

"He shattered her."

Dan didn't reply, stunned. He glanced at the slowly healing gem, then back at Brian.

"As soon as he emerged, he _killed_ her and ate her shards. Barry saw it." Brian stepped forward.

"That...that doesn't justify _locking him away_!" Dan shouted, shoving him away, "We've done some pretty fucked up stuff too!"

Brian shook his head. Dan could've sworn he was laughing, except that hadn't happened in three thousand years.

"Give me the aquamarine."

Dan's footsteps could've cracked ice.

" _No_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I hurt my faves in fics, why do I do that. Anyway, guess who fucking loves the Crystal Grumps AU? Well, me, obviously, or I wouldn't have written this, but still.
> 
> Also, I wrote this in present-tense at first but then changed it, so please, please let me know if any verbs are in the wrong tense and it looks weird. Let me know about any mistakes, actually. (fuck the rules of english language, am i right?)


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